I noticed not even a Pandemic could take down Pay to Play...

[Glitterhater]

I think this is accurate excluding the top level of club players..... I am not seeing or hearing roster issues across ECNL clubs but there is no doubt this situation sucks for youth soccer in general........

I agree with the ECNL aspect. Take it for what it's worth but my DD has friends in two different ECNL clubs. Both teams/clubs have maxed rosters, one with 19 and their general consensus is "this" is better than nothing. Of course, a few more months of this could change all that for sure.

 

[Grace T.]

I think this is accurate excluding the top level of club players..... I am not seeing or hearing roster issues across ECNL clubs but there is no doubt this situation sucks for youth soccer in general........

On the youngers end though it will be a problem for even players that would eventually play ECNL, except for maybe the most elite of early blooming GOATs that have already been ID'd. The entire development pathway has been disrupted. One generation of kids in AYSO for SoCal (say that are 7 years old right now) may not even get to touch a game before club recruitment begins. Don't know how it would have affected mine if he had missed his Extras year, for example.

 

[Paul Spacey]

I agree with the ECNL aspect. Take it for what it's worth but my DD has friends in two different ECNL clubs. Both teams/clubs have maxed rosters, one with 19 and their general consensus is "this" is better than nothing. Of course, a few more months of this could change all that for sure.

I think we all recognize that youth soccer will be negatively impacted in terms of player numbers but I agree that the numbers for higher level teams likely won’t be affected; those are the kids (and parents) who love the game the most and they are not going anywhere.

Let’s face it, it’s going to be the bronze/flight 3 and rec programs that are impacted the most. The kids who play for a bit of fun but are happy to take it or leave it.

My club isn’t being impacted because we have a small number of teams all playing at a strong level with kids who are very keen to keep playing but I’ve heard via parents and coaches that many clubs are combining some of their lower level teams and even stronger older teams who have lost players.

It’s a shit situation for youth soccer that is only going to get worse the longer we go without games or anything meaningful in SoCal.